(CRI's Qian Shanming talks to Professor Yang Zhimin about the trade and investment ties between China and Latin America.)

China has renewed its pledge to strengthen trade and investment ties with Latin America. On the first China-CELAC Forum recently concluded in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China's investment in Latin America will reach $250 billion and that the volume of two-way trade will double to $500 billion in the next decade.

Our reporter Qian Shanming speaks to Professor Yang Zhimin of the Institute of Latin American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on this topic. The professor points out that after the financial crisis, both Latin America and China face some difficulties, but China has huge imports, outbound investment as well as outbound tourists, which provide big opportunities for Latin America.

As for the conflicts between Chinese companies and Latin Americans, Yang suggests that Chinese companies should be familiar with the local situation as well as have a plan about how to protect the environment and communicate with locals. More importantly, Chinese companies need to make the Latin American people understand the potential benefits of the project.

Yang's analysis shows that increasing trade friction is from the countries' similar economic structures, especially concerning the exporting of goods. If both sides had more developed high-end economic structure, they could avoid some frictions.

The Chinese economy is now developing under a "new norm", which means that China has been moving toward a development model based more on domestic consumption, rather than exports and investment. That means China will consume more products, which will not only be produced in China but also in other countries including Latin American nations. Besides, a more stable Chinese economy will be a more stable engine for Latin America as Latin America increasingly depends on Chinese economic growth.

Zhao Ran contributed to this story.

To learn more about Professor Yang's opinion on trade and investment ties between China and Latin America, you can listen to the recent edition of People In the Know.

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